Kan Seng launches wastepaper recycling project
By
A MINISTER turned paper boy yesterday for a good cause.
Mr Wong Kan Seng, the Minister for Home Affairs, launched a wastepaper recycling project at Bishan Serangoon town by picking up old newspapers and loading them onto a lorry.
The year-long project, organised by the Bishan Serangoon Town Council, will also help save lives. The wastepaper collected will be sold to a recycling mill and the proceeds donated to the National Kidney Foundation to subsidise the cost of dialysis for kidney patients.
The Sony Group of Companies is matching dollar-for-dollar the amount collected. The project is expected to raise about $160,000 this year.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Wong, an MP for Thomson GRC, said: "Up till now, whenever we make a donation to charity, we reach for our wallets or cheque books. Now, residents of Bishan Serangoon Town need only reach for their wastepaper."
He said that in land-scarce Singapore, it is not productive to keep setting aside valuable land for landfills and incinerators for waste disposal.
"Our present landfill in Lorong Halus can last us up to 1998, after which wastes have to be dumped on Pulau Semakau, an offshore island. This is much more costly, as the wastes have to be sent by barge to the island and then by lorry to the landfill."
He added what while incinerators do not use up much land, they are expensive to build and operate. The third and newest plant was built in Senoko in 1992 at a cost of $580 million.
The recycling project will see volunteers and karang guni (rag-and-bone) men collecting old newspapers door to door from 33,000 households every month.
Fliers on the project have been sent to all the households. A lucky draw will also be held every three months as an incentive.
Said Mr Teh Swee Kim, 54, a retired taxi driver who had his newspapers collected by Mr Wong: "It’s a good idea —better than just throwing our papers all over the place."
Source : The Straits Times, January 10, 1994
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